The Sea Cows are back in Florida.

Фото: Depositphotos

In the old days, travelers often considered sea cows, or manatees, mermaids. These calm large marine mammals weigh half a ton and reach 13 feet in length. Their closest relatives on the tree of evolution are elephants.

In nature, manatees have no natural enemies, with the possible exception of man. Fishing gear and knife-sharp screws of motorboats, along with the general intensification of economic activity, had a detrimental effect on the number of manatees in Florida and the Caribbean. They were on the verge of extinction. Manatees were so few that their populations, in accordance with the US Endangered Species Act, were taken under protection among the first.

“Without the manatees it’s hard to imagine the waters of Florida,” says Michael Bean of the US Department of the Interior. “But this is exactly the reality we face.”

The situation is improving

Thanks to the tightening of the rules of economic activity and regulation of the movement of boats in specially created “zones of protection of manatees” in Florida, the revival of populations of these mammals began. In 1991, aerial photography recorded only 1,2 thousands of manatees off the coast of Florida. This year their number has exceeded 6 thousands.

Such replenishment of the population has enabled biologists from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to transfer manatees from endangered species to the category of species that are “threatened with extinction.” According to the mentioned law, this means that the manatees are no longer subject to the danger of immediate extinction, but the rules for their protection will remain in force.

However, the problem has not been finally resolved: the United States, Belize and the Caribbean countries are planning to expand economic activities in this region and develop tourism. Conservation of measures for the protection of manatees will allow these cute mammals to continue their voyage.

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